About this project

$16,361

pledged of $7,500 goal

810

backers

Extended Goals! Help take Crystal Catacombs to the Next Level!!

Base Goal: Thanks to YOU, we've
reached our goal! This will most definitely insure that Crystal Catacombs will
become a reality! The support shown for Catacombs has been phenomenal and the
best part is, we still have weeks to take it even further. So, I invite you to
take part in the second stage of the Kickstarter fundraising... The extended
goals.

Map Editor: DONE! We will now do everything in our humble power to include with the final
version of the game, a customizable map editor! Choose your Crystal Realm
template and then customize it with room layouts and enemies galore! *If possible, we'd
love to also incorporate some way for you to share your levels with friends.

Crystal Realm Design
Contest: Do you have an idea
for a really cool Crystal Realm that you'd like to see included into the game?
Well, guess what? Starting right now, I'm excited to announce that we'll
be accepting entries for a backer inspired Crystal Realm design contest!

Check out the Crystal
Realm Design Contest FAQ for all the details!

Co-op Multiplayer: Here's where the deal
gets oh so sweet. If we reach this goal, we'll especially do everything within
our most humbling of powers to give the gamers of the world the joy of being able
to play Crystal Catacombs with friends! Imagine exploring a Crystal Realm with
fellow comrades by your side! This feature would easily expand the potential of
Crystal Catacombs to an entirely new level. It would also require a lot of energy
but we would do our darndest to make this feature available to as many players
as possible!

Even though Levels or
Lives currently consists of a small team, with your support, we could potentially acquire the necessary
help and talent to make Crystal Catacombs into something truly special!

Crystal Catacombs:

Crystal Catacombs is an
exploration based action platformer that incorporates challenging
roguelike mechanics combined within a multitude of
unique and unpredictable procedurally generated (random) dungeons.

The
game includes dozens of different items, weapons, spells, enemies and
bosses. It will also feature a customizable inventory and a stat based
character upgrade system.

"The
gameplay mechanics and visual style of Crystal Catacombs are both
greatly inspired by classic games such as Super Metroid and Castlevania.
I've made a strong point to try and retain the same vintage appeal
while also incorporating my own artistic/game design spin into the
development of the game to help make it as fun and exciting as
possible."

-Maxwell Jensen

Features:

Procedurally generated
dungeons with randomly chosen room layouts, enemies, special items,
treasures and even bosses. No two experiences will ever be the same.

Seven different Crystal Realms (levels) to explore. Each with their own unique enemies, traps, hazards, treasures and bosses.

Encounter and fight over 20 different bosses and dozens of varying enemies.

Discover over 20 Magical
Artifacts that can be equipped and used to grant new abilities, such as a the Double Jump Boot, Dragon Armor, Crystal Skull and Grapple Spikes.

Collect and choose from
several different weapon classes including swords, whips, axes and bows. Each class also has different variations of each weapon type.

Unleash an assortment
of powerful magic spells ranging from fireballs to summoning powerful creatures to help aid you in battle.

Gain experience points to level up and ultimately become a force of glorified and unadulterated power!

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The Story of Captain Vasil Ravencraft:

"Captains log,

after days of traveling across the open waters of Celestica I've almost reached my destination. In the center of the Dark Ocean lies a lone island. Upon its shores sits The Crystal Catacombs. A fabled fortress said to contain portals to different worlds. Alternate realms filled with a wealth of treasure, vast secrets... and great danger. Yet, no man has ever returned to tell the tale of what truly lies inside the Catacombs.

As I write this, my fate is uncertain - but as I make my way into the dark abyss, my sense of adventure burns inside me like a great, illuminating flame... And so, I go forth."

-Captain Vasil Ravencraft

Captain Vasil Ravencraft and his Amazing Mechanical Airship. When not
exploring the Catacombs, Vasil can return to the surface and enter his
airship. Inside, Vasil can restore all HP/MP, save the games progress
and use the Captains Chamber to store items for future use.

_________________________________________________

Crystal Realms:

Each dungeon theme inside the Catacombs will be procedurally generated based on specific
properties. Depending on the theme, each varies by size,
shape, difficulty (hazards and) enemy types (including bosses), potential
artifacts and treasure amounts.

Crystal Catacombs consists
of seven different Crystal Realms (level themes). These Realms are unique in appearance and difficulty.
Each Crystal Realm is designated to a specific floor within the Catacombs. When a Realm is completed the next floor will be accessible to the player, revealing a
new Crystal Realm.

"An ancient castle ruled by an army of the undead, ghouls and ghosts."

"Deep below the
surface, these caverns house untold terrors… Few men have made it this far."

"A bone chilling world consisting of only the most resilient and ferocious beasts."

"A strange metal fortress filled with machines that seem to come from another world..."

...and even deeper inside of the Crystal Catacombs lies the infinite madness of the 'Necron'. Only by defeating all Crystal Realms can you discover the true secret of the Crystal Catacombs...

_________________________________________________

Item Categories:

Several
different item categories consisting of dozens of individual items can be found throughout the depths of the Catacombs. Items
range from tools that aid Vasil in exploration to magical artifacts that
grant powerful new abilities.

Below are just a few of the different item types.

Healing Items: Healing items include potions and
cures for specific stat ailments. It's always a good idea to have a few of these in your inventory.

Equipment Items: Equipment items include tools used to
assist Vasil in reaching new areas and general exploration.

Grappling Hook: Extends vertically until it makes contact with a surface, can be climbed.

Jetpack: Can be used to maneuver through the air - but be careful, fuel is limited!

iTab: Using the iTab will transport you to a random location inside the level... This can be good or bad (but always interesting).

Special Items: Special items vary from temporary
stat changers to granting Vasil the ability to perform otherwise,
impossible feats.

Eye of Xye: Used to reveal an undiscovered area of the level.

Spirit Guide: Can be used to remotely control a small Spirit Guide to temporarily explore a level. Helpful when you're not sure which way to proceed.

Portal: Can be used at any time to exit a level and return to the surface. Lifesavers when you find yourself in a dire situation.

Artifacts: Artifacts are a unique item type in
that they can be bound to Vasil to grant new abilities or stat changes. Over 20 Artifacts can be found and equipped throughout the span of the Catacombs.

Crystal Skull: Enemies will drop twice the amount of crystal shards.

Dragon Boot: Grants the power to dash with great speed.

Grapple Spikes: Allows Vasil to kick-flip off of surfaces. Invaluable for exploring those hard to reach areas.

Charge Stone: Vasil's equipped weapon can be charged to release a powerful attack. Just remember, this will also consume MP!

Leap Feather: By ducking momentarily and then jumping, Vasil will quickly shoot far up the air. Even large chasms can be easily maneuvered through by equipping this artifact.

_________________________________________________

Weapons and Spells:

Weapons: Amongst the various weapon
categories are many different sub-types, some even with special qualities (i.e.
fire sword, ice whip, blood axe etc…). Each weapon also has a certain percentage
chance of inflicting a critical hit.

Swords
- Well rounded weapons with average damage, range and speed stats.

Axes
- Powerful weapons with high damage but small range and low speed stats.

Whips
- With the ability to extend further than swords and axes, the whip grants Vasil good range with medium damage but suffers from lower speed.

Bows
- Excellent range, medium speed and low damage. To use a bow, Vasil must
have arrows present in the inventory.

Spells: Crystal Catacombs includes many different
types of spells Vasil can learn to cast, ranging from fireballs, life absorbing lightning bolts, rapid fire plasma shots and even the ability to unleash powerful
elemental attacks. MP is a limited commodity within the Catacombs so be sure to use magic wisely.

Vasil conjures the 'Blizzard' spell against the titanic Jelly Snail.

_________________________________________________

Outside Support:

Since the development of Crystal Catacombs began a little over a year ago, the project has received some very supportive responses, feedback and attention. The fact that so many people have reached out and shown their support means a lot to us. It has proven that this is a project worth pursuing. Below are a few of the websites that have helped show their support for Crystal Catacombs.

_________________________________________________

Funding:

Your contributions to Crystal Catacombs will go towards hiring a team of talented individuals to help take the game to the next level of development. This would include programmers, assisting artists, our musician and the cost of the rewards.

If you've decided to support us, we give you our deepest gratitude. Thank you!

I'll also be posting daily updates concerning all kinds of fun aspects about the game. DAILY UPDATES!

FAQ

-Any backer who pledges $10 or more can submit their very own Crystal Realm idea.

-Submissions will be accepted until June 30th at 12AM (MST).

-On July 1st, we'll post our three favorite ideas onto the project page. Each realm concept will also have its respective backer’s own submitted info.

-Once the final entries have been chosen, every backer will be able to submit one vote to decide which realm concept they like best.

At this point, as long as we've reached our 30k goal... We'll award prizes when funding finishes! Yay!

1st Place:

-Your Crystal Realm idea will be transformed into a pixelized reality by Maxwell and become an actual level which will be included into Crystal Catacombs! You’ll also receive a complete, boxed version of Crystal Catacombs.

2nd Place:

-Your very own Crystal Catacombs T-shirt!

3rd Place:

-Stickers, decal and buttons!

Please include the following with your submission:

A description of your realm, which can be as in-depth as you like. It could be a sentence or a novel (please don't make me read a novel), it's up to you.

A visual reference consisting of anything from a glittery macaroni picture, to pixel art, to a Renaissance inspired oil painting. Don't worry about your artistic skill, I'll just need some sort of idea to work off of.

Feel free to tell us what your realm would look like, what kind of creatures would inhabit it, is there a background story to this particular realm? Is it inspired by a favorite game of yours? How's the real estate value of homes in the neighborhood? ...You probably don't have to worry about that last part... But please, get imaginative and have fun with it! If you want, have a friend help you express your idea!

Also, don't forget to take the current Crystal Realms into consideration when coming up with your own idea. we've already covered some of the standard video game level themes for you (castle, jungle, fire, caves, ice, machine tower and the evil, undead land of the Necron).

Contest Rules:

-one submission per every $10 backer

-one vote per every $10 backer

-Email submission to LevelsorLives@gmail.com. Please use 'Crystal Realm Design Contest' as your subject heading and be sure to include your backer name.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $25 or more
About $25

PDF Instruction Booklet and Digital Soundtrack - (receive all previous rewards, plus) You'll be sent a PDF copy of the official Crystal Catacombs instruction booklet. This high quality 'NES' inspired booklet will come complete with original artwork and information regarding many aspects of the game. PLUS, you'll also be provided with a high quality MP3/FLAC version of the Crystal Catacombs chip-tune soundtrack composed by the talented MaskedEpsilon.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $50 or more
About $50

Beta Tester - (receive all previous rewards, plus) Gain access to early builds of Crystal Catacombs during the Beta Testing Phase of development. You'll also be able to submit feedback to help make the game even better.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $125 or more
About $125

(NEW!) Boxed Version of Crystal Catacombs - Specifically created as an alternative to buying everything included in the 'Diamond Gift Package' - with this, you'll receive your very own boxed version of Crystal Catacombs! Inspired by the package/artwork from the 'NES' era, this nifty little package will also include a copy of the high quality printed, official instruction booklet. Note: The $100 tier and all tiers following are not included with this reward. Also, an additional $10 shipping and handling fee would be applied to overseas pledges.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $250 or more
About $250

Diamond Gift Package - (receive all previous rewards, plus) To show our personal gratitude towards your contribution to this project, we'll make a point to call you and personally thank you for your help. ALSO, you'll receive your very own signed, boxed version of Crystal Catacombs! Inspired by the package/artwork from the 'NES' era, this nifty little package will also include a copy of the high quality printed, official instruction booklet as well as a physical copy of the game in CD format... And they say you can't buy nostalgia, psshh.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $350 or more
About $350

Enemy Designer - (receive all previous rewards, plus) You'll work closely with Maxwell to come up with the look, name and even the attack pattern of your own unique beast. You'll also be fully credited as the creature designer. Note: A first come, first served basis will be used for designing the limited number of larger enemies available.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $500 or more
About $500

Boss Designer - (receive all previous rewards, plus) Conceptualize and design your own boss character to be included in Crystal Catacombs! You'll work closely with Maxwell to come up with the look, name, room layout and attack patterns of your epic monster. You'll also be fully credited as the creature designer.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $750 or more
About $750

Levels or Lives Game Pass - (receive all previous rewards, plus) From here on out, you will receive any future games, DLC content or digital applications developed and released by Levels or Lives. This will also include access to any early beta testing. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

Guardian Statue - (receive all previous rewards, plus) Residing inside the chambers of the Crystal Catacombs, your likeness will be forever immortalized as a 'God of Celestica' in the form of an epic statue. Ultimately, you will play a key role in the shrouded mystery of the Crystal Catacombs...

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $2,000 or more
About $2,000

Level Designer - (receive all previous rewards, plus) You'll work very closely (hey, not THAT close) with Maxwell to help create a ‘secret world’, complete with theme, enemies, hazards and bosses. If more than one person backs this reward, we'll assemble as a group to make this happen. We have to admit, this would be a lot of fun. However, if we were not to receive this donation, this feature would probably not end up in the final product.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $4,000 or more
About $4,000

Crystal Catacombs' Executive Producer - (receive all previous rewards, plus) By going so far above and beyond the call of duty, you'll take a personal stake in the future of Levels or Lives. By pledging more than half of our goal, we will respectfully give you the title of Executive Producer for Crystal Catacombs. You'll be right at the helm with us in helping create the best game possible. Naturally, we'll have to adhere to some standards like not affecting the principles or integrity of the game but other than that, you'll be considered an official and important team member.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $8,000 or more
About $8,000

Put Your Quarter Up - You're awesome. Do you know how awesome you are? You're so awesome that Levels or Lives is going to fly you out to the sunny city of Denver, put you up in a swanky hotel for the night and then Maxwell himself will take you on a tour of his stomping grounds. Complete with a feast fit for a king, followed by a trip to quite possibly, the coolest bar ever created - THE 1UP! You bring your game, Maxwell will provide the quarters... and drinks.